This “elongated, stretched-out path to heaven,” is how the beloved dancer Jacques d’Amboise describes Tanaquil Le Clercq, with whom he once danced the ballet in this documentary’s title.
Le Clercq’s dancing had wit and arresting musicality. She was loved by Jerome Robbins, but she fell in love with and married an even greater choreographer, George Balanchine. And then, at age 27, she contracted polio while on tour in Europe. She spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
The story is something of a trap: Both irresistibly poignant and an invitation to wallow. Director Nancy Buirski does a much better job with the first half of “Tanny’s” career. She’s unearthed a gratifying amount of dance footage that, despite often coming from blurry old TV tapes, shows that Le Clercq was a magical ballerina.
Then comes polio, and a montage of Le Clercq’s legs, her feet, then her graceful swoons into a partner’s arms — Buirski can’t seem to stop reminding the audience of the obvious ironies. The newer home movies of Le Clercq, who lived on to age 71 and eventually taught dance, help to redeem the second half. Flawed as it is, no balletomane should miss this one.